LUCIE AUBRAC
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. October Films Director: Claude Berri Writer: Lucie Aubrac (book), Claude Berri Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Jacques Bonnaffe, Eric Boucher, Carole Bouquet, Patrice Chereau, Heino Ferch, Pascal Greggory, Jean Martin, Jean-Roger Milo, Jean-Louis Richard, Hubert Saint-Macary, Bernard Verley
If the French still have not faced up to criticism of their wartime policies, it's no wonder. Defeated twice by the Germans--first in 1914 and then in 1940--France has been reproached by many for its role in cooperating with the enemy during World War 2. The unoccupied southern portion of the country was run by a collaborationist government from the city of Vichy, while many French police and citizens shamefully participated with the Nazis in the rounding up of their Jewish citizens. The one bright chapter in French wartime history centers on the Resistance, an underground force which ambushed and blew up ammunition-carrying trains and trucks and shot German soldiers whenever they felt they could get away with these actions. Not surprisingly, just after the war, the number of French who fought with the Resistance miraculously "expanded," with collaborationists and neutralists alike suddenly sharing the glory of the brave people who risked their lives to free their country from the hated occupiers. One might expect Claude Berri, the noted French director who is the son of Jewish immigrants, to come down hard on those Frenchmen who helped round up Jews for the Gestapo. But in "Lucie Aubrac," based on a true story "Outwitting the Gestapo" by a heroic female Resistance fighter whose real name was Lucie Bernard, Berri unfolds the brave woman's struggle to free her husband from jail shortly before he was to be executed.
The film opens on its most exciting action sequence, one that might bring to mind the blowing up of the overpass in "The Bridge on the River Kwai." A fictitious event in that Aubrac's husband was not actually involved, the occurrence adds considerable drama to a story embracing more talk than physical action. As a group of French Resistors work feverishly to wire up an explosive device, Raymond Samuel, aka Aubrac (Daniel Auteuil)--backed up by a handful of fighters--later watches with delight as their operation succeeds in destroying a steam train carrying ammunition to the German forces. Aubrac, a high-level member of the Resistance in charge of administering a zone of operation, meets clandestinely with his colleagues, including the leader, Jean Moulin aka Max (Patrice Chereau). Ultimately he is arrested and charged with terrorism after the group are allegedly betrayed by one of their associates, thrown into a tiny, roach- infested cell, tortured, and sentenced to death for terrorism. At this point, his wife Lucie (Carole Bouquet) schemes to save her husband by concocting a plan which would allow him to be transported to the office of a Nazi official, thereby allowing her colleagues in the Resistance to use violence to free him.
Claude Berri is quite familiar with the period of history he describes. His 1991 film "Uranus" starring Gerard Depardieu, dealt with the struggle for power in a village among groups of communists, anticommunists, collaborators and ex-resisters. Here, he illustrates some military action in this two-hour drama, but fixes primarily on the romantic scheme at the story's heart. That he is most concerned with machiavellian designs of his countrymen is not unusual, considering that at his height, he directed his most discussed film "Jean de Florette"--about a proud French farmer who schemes with his simple-minded nephew to acquire some nearby farmland by making sure that the new owners discover an all-important natural spring on the property.
A strong sentimental note attends the tale. Lucie made love with her husband for the first time on a May 14 and has promised that they would be together on the anniversary of that date for the rest of their lives. Her insistence on keeping to that bargain goes a way toward illuminating her strong motivation to do everything she can to persuade German officials to transport the man for a day from his death cell.
While Daniel Auteuil turns in his usual reliable performance, Carole Bouquet carries the day with a forceful discharge of her valorous role. Keeping a straight, almost poker face throughout her negotiations with the enemy, she shows the uniformed torturers and soldiers alike that she means business. We are made privy to her determination even as we watch her teach history to her class of 10-year- old girls, suggesting that they "don't laugh" whenever they get the giggles as girls that age are wont to do. Vincenzo Marano's camera glides across Olivier Radot's production design--a layout that not only transports us to village France of the 1940s but actually makes us feel that we're watching one of those old-time romantic war movies. Though "Lucie Aubrac" includes more than a modicum of violent action, the overall ambiance is a sober one. This is a deliberately paced film with a powerful woman's role that may not knock your socks off but will give you insight into the machinations within an occupied area of Europe and how love--with just a trace of honeyed sentiment--can serve as a literal life-saver.
Rated R. Running Time: 116 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten
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